For the past week or more DD has been sleeping 4-6 hour stretches at night, which is GREAT, but she doesn't get to sleep until at least midnight no matter how early we start trying. So she wakes a couple times and then she and I finally wake up for the day around 10am. DH, however, is up at 4:45am. I hate that he's working on so little sleep, and it makes me nervous when he has roof work. How can I shift her sleep schedule a few hours earlier? We'd love to go back to our normal sleep schedule of 8:30pm-5am. She's 5 weeks old. Is it a reasonable time to be working on the sleep schedule? I still have 7 weeks before I go back to work.

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Married the best husband ever May 2009 , Mama to E 9-2-129-2014

The first few weeks can be difficult. Sleep training is not advised until much older. Your 5 week old baby's habits will change often in the first few months. She's sleeping in 4-6 hour stretches so early... How lucky!

You may need to look at changing sleeping arrangements so your DH can get much needed sleep. Is he staying up until midnight? Or just you? Is baby crying or fussy?

You could just start waking up earlier with her. Does she cluster feed before bedtime? That's how we "set" DS's bedtime when he was that young - put him in a milk coma! when it's time to get up (6-7 am) just bring her out into a common area where it's bright and noisy, and when it's time for bed, make sure it's dark and quiet. You can adjust her feedings and baths accordingly, but that is probably the best you can do right now.

This is normal. Gradually baby's "bedtime" will shift from 9-11 p.m. (which you're on the far end of) to 7-9 p.m., or a bit earlier. Probably in the next week or two. I would get my hands on a copy of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Training aside, the book will yell you what normal looks like, and how to change your situation if it's not working for you.

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Amelia, married to Bear since 12/31/04; our daughter Rowan was born 8/6/09; our daughter Sapphira was born 8/17/12; due with DD3 6/17/15 (but after one two weeks late and one three weeks early, I'm not expecting a due-date baby!)

We schedule our babies so we begin our day at approximately the same time each day and eat and nap at predictable intervals throughout the day. Bedtime is approximately the same time each day also. Yes, even at a few weeks of age. We follow our babies' hunger and sleep cues, and help them order their sleep and hunger metabolisms. I get myself and my babies up at the same time each day. I like 6 or 7am. Nurse, awake, nap. 2.5-3 hours later, Nurse, awake, nap. Repeat all day.
With the schedule you prefer of 830-5 down, and how we routine our babies, it would look like this here...
5 am - nurse, wake, nap
8am - nurse, wake, nap
11am - nurse, wake, nap
2pm - nurse, wake, nap
5pm - nurse, wake, nap
8pm - nurse, wake, bed

I would anticipate your LO waking 2x at night to eat and soon begin waking only once.

For us, the key to helping the day make sense, is getting it started at the same time daily. We wake our babies to help the day make sense for us all, and be sure the awake time is occurring during the day and the sleep time is happening at night. We wake to be sure lots of full feedings and calories are getting in during the day, we nap to be sure we dont end up with overtired babies that don't settle at bedtime.

This is what works beautifully here and for the other moms I work with. GL finding what works for you!

Of course i posted and she woke every 2 hours that night. The nursery where DD sleeps is a small room attached to our bedroom. There's no door to the room. DH wakes up every time she wakes, but he says he eventually falls back asleep while I'm up with her. The only other place for her to sleep, besides our room, is downstairs, and I'm not putting her that far away. We have gone downstairs though during especially wakeful nights.

Yesterday we tried to keep her to more of a schedule like you described, Leslie. Last night she went to sleep at 8:15 in her crib!! She woke up at 10:15, 2:30 and then at 8:30. It was so nice to wake up at a more normal time without feeling like I wasted an entire day! And I actually felt rested. Using that schedule, how long do the wake periods usually last?

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Married the best husband ever May 2009 , Mama to E 9-2-129-2014

Of course i posted and she woke every 2 hours that night. The nursery where DD sleeps is a small room attached to our bedroom. There's no door to the room. DH wakes up every time she wakes, but he says he eventually falls back asleep while I'm up with her. The only other place for her to sleep, besides our room, is downstairs, and I'm not putting her that far away. We have gone downstairs though during especially wakeful nights.

Yesterday we tried to keep her to more of a schedule like you described, Leslie. Last night she went to sleep at 8:15 in her crib!! She woke up at 10:15, 2:30 and then at 8:30. It was so nice to wake up at a more normal time without feeling like I wasted an entire day! And I actually felt rested. Using that schedule, how long do the wake periods usually last?

Elissa is almost 4 weeks. So generally you would nurse/feed, and then do 15-30 minutes of awake time after she eats, before she starts tiring. 0-4 weeks is like 15-20 minutes. 4-8 weeks is like 20-40 minutes. Look for her sleep cues... they're really easy to spot in a newb if you know what you're looking for and start to notice them in your LO. Many times, its that first yawn or first little fuss. Some babies get "aggitated" for lack of a better word where they all of a sudden go from happy, content awake to waving a fist or turning their head side to side, back and forth. Whatever E's individual flavor is, you'll soon learn. Put her down for a nap right away when you see the cues. She is happy drowsy and receptive to sleep easily at this point. Wait too long and you can get the crabby overtireds and those aren't fun or easy to get past to sleep.

So glad y'all had a better night and are feeling better this morning. . At 4 weeks, mine were generally in bed between 8 and 830. I got mine up to do a dreamfeed when I was headed to bed around 10. Mine were waking only once to eat, around 3 or 4. Then I would get them up to start our day at 7am. We did a 3 hour routine during the day until bedtime. Works like a charm here and for our close friends using the same structure. GL!

I 100% agree with the previous post! Did the same type of scheduling with my little guy and it works beautifully. He's 8 months now and has been sleeping 12 hours a night with two naps for 4 months now. There will be some predictable hiccups but on the whole we are a very happy, well rested family!